Memories and Remembrance
by CrossGeneration
Summary: One year after the Gaea war, our heroes have successfully come back. Suddenly, Nico can't take it anymore, Annabeth wants to confront her biggest fear (other than spiders), Piper and Jason are getting worried, Reyna is confused, and Percy wants to confess his real feelings. WARING: contains yaoi and fem!slash. Don't like, don't read.
1. Forget

Nico stared. The raging waters reminded him of a certain green-eyed teen. Tears prickled behind his eyes, but he stopped them before they could flow freely; finally, he knew what he wanted to do- had to do. Next to him, a familiar voice asked quietly.

"Are you sure this is what you want, Nico? There's nothing I can guarantee but loss of most, if not all, memories. This is a very serious matter."

The fifteen-year-old continued staring, but his time, at his father straight in the eye, despite the height difference.

"Yes, father. I have made up my mind."

The expression and nod of Hades seemed distant, sorrowful, even,

"I cannot do anything for you, son. You have decided this from your own free will," he put a hand on the demigod's shoulder. "Take care, Nico."

With that he disappeared, leaving behind on the reminiscence of fading black smoke in front of the pale demigod. The Lethe river water sounded tempting, like music to his ears. Nico took a deep breath.

_ I need another story, something to get off my chest_

He took a step forward

_ 'Till all my sleeves are stained red from all the secrets that I've said._

Another step.

_ Tell me what you want to hear, something that will light those ears._

At the edge of the bank.

A hushed whisper over the raging waves.

"So I'm gonna give all my secrets away."

He fell.


	2. Ponder

Percy didn't know what to do. Annabeth had hastily told him after dinner that she didn't think that they were meant to be with each other, but instead of feeling devastated, he felt relief fill up his heart. He sighed again, wondering if he should take a short swim to relieve of his stress. Ever since Tartarus, he (with Annabeth) felt that every exchange between them was one of siblings, or close companions, but nothing close to that of 'soul mates'. Grabbing Riptide from underneath his pillow, he quickly changed into a tank top and basketball shorts, resolving to forget everything for a short amount of time sparring with the arena dummies.

It had been one year since the Gaea war; the seven pus three have found bravely until the last moment, but when it came to the final stage of Gaea's defeat, sacrifices had to be made. Hazy images ran through the green-eyed teen's head, of Hazel's death, Frank's death, the prophesy's completion, and the sorrow, yet joy that they had when they had come back to Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.

One decapitated dummy, three to go.

Throughout the self-sparring (if you could call it that) period, one scene really stuck out to Percy: It was a long night after the feasting, but something didn't go right with the son of Poseidon. So, naturally, he would go to the shore on Camp Half-Blood for refuge. There, on the shining sands of the beach, he was met with a shaking child of Hades.

_Flashback:_

"What's wrong, Nico?" He asked gently, rubbing circles on the younger demigod's back or comfort.

" The F-fates... are cruel... Taking my sister once... but t-twice?" The half-Italian's mouth was clamped on his closed fist, muffling all sobs that he had made. Percy gently enbraced the smaller teen and held him until on puffy eyes and stray cheek marks were left on his pale cheeks.

"It's okay Nico, it's going to be okay," wide chocolate one met with sea green one in challenge, "We're all here for each other and love each other. Heck, we saved the world twice." Percy chuckled sadly.

After a shared silence, Nico spoke up, still in Percy's arms.

"Percy? I... I r-really need to do something." The taller demigod cocked his head.

"If you need to use the restroom, you're allowed to g-"

"No, it's not that. Just... just promise me you won't hate m-me." His voice wavered bit, making Percy embrace the son of Hdes warmly again.

"Why would I ever hate you?" Nico laughed bitterly and without humor.

"Oh, if you knew the things that knew and thought, you would most definitely hate me."

"No, I won't, Nico. Don't be ridiculous." Their gazes met again, but in a slightly fierce competition. Nico laughed the same laugh again.

Silently, he leaned forward towards Percy, almost until their noses were touching.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, closing the space between their lips. Percy didn't know what to feel. Shocked? Surprised? Happy? Sad? Angry?

_End of Flashback:_

While cutting off all the limbs of the third dummy and prodding it in the stomach a few time for good mesure, Percy thought about the reasons why he would've done that. He would've done something in reply, but before he could even think of response, the younger had simply shadow traveled. Gone, just like that.

Somewhere far in the distance, probably at the front of Camp Half-Blood, someone yelled, "Ahh!" Without a second thought, Percy ran off, worrying and wondering if monsters had somehow gotten into camp boundaries. What he saw made him stop and gape.


	3. Help

"So, uh..." the pale boy sitting across from Chiron seemed hardly confused, nervous at the most. 'Well, maybe that's because he doesn't remember anything!' Percy reminded himself, digging his nails into his palms. "Hi?... No, um... am I suppose to introduce myself?" His chocolate brown eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, and Piper subconsciously squeezed her girlfriend's hand tighter, not the only one knowing that there was something wrong with this situation, something horribly wrong.

"What are you talking about Nico? Now can you tell us why you scared a new camper half to death and soaked to the bone?"

"Umm... Nico..." the black-haired teen looked behind him, then back at the blonde, "Is that suppose to be me? I think? It sounds familiar."

"This is one sick joke, dude." Leo commented while fiddling with three scraps of metal, but not taking his eyes off of the son of Hades. Jason quickly agreed with a nod.

"Nico," Percy stated, causing everybody to look at him, "what are you talking about?" He repeated Annabeth's earlier question.

"I... I d-don't remember anything! I swear!"

Chiron sat forward, trotting nervously. "Don't you remember anything from before? How did you come here?" The boy shrugged.

"I mean, I climbed out of a river, and then the first words that I thought were 'Camp Half-Blood' and then I somehow ended up next to the girl I scared." He looked around the table and shrugged, either not noticing or ignoring the non-believing stares that he recieved. "And then.. you guys brought me into here."

"Do you swear on the River Styx that you don't remember anything?" Percy asked. Suddenly, something flashed in the younger demigod's eyes and reflected off his expression. "Do you... remember anything else?"

"River... it's connected to something like... like... jumping?" Piper blinked back her surprise.

"So, you remember jumping into a river? The River Styx?" Nico scrunched his eyebrows up in a way that Percy thought was cute, but that didn't call for the situation at hand.

"No, more like... _fell_. Yea, I fell into a river... But there was more... a-a reason behind it, like... ugh, I don't know, life?" Out of the corner of his eyes, Percy saw a shocked and stunned expression on his face, compared to the confused and bedraggled one on Nico's.

"Nico. Did you get pushed in the river? Or fall fighting?" His eyebrows knitted together again.

"I'm not sure... Can I get a drink of water?" He stood up and suddenly addressed Chiron, who was racking every part of his brain to figure out this enigma.

"Yes, but can you answer a quick question?" He continued with the cue of a hesitant nod. "Do you remember anybody next to you? Maybe they can tell us what happened. And did you fall by choice?"

"Um... I think... I fell by choice, and there _was _someone next to me... by the name of... of..." Suddenly the pale demigod jolted once and fell to the floor, knees giving out. Having the quickest reflexes, Percy jumped up and caught him before he fell. "Hades... his name was Hades... Bianca... Camp..." were the last words that Nico muttered out before losing conscious. Jason jumped up immediately after this fiasco.

"Nico dipped in the Lethe, didn't he?" Worry and shock were clearly written on his face. Chiron's face became grave and his voice turned into a hushed whisper.

"We don't know yet, but from the information, it looks like he did. Piper and Annabeth, take him to the infirmary now. Check his state. Percy, Leo and Jason, I need to talk to you three." The demigods split, one trio to the infirmary, and the other trio in front of Chiron.

"Doesn't the Lethe take memories?" Leo asked, hands completely still for once.

"But... but that means he doesn't remember anything! And he remembered Hades and Bianca!" Percy claimed, almost at the point of shouting.

"There's no other explanation, Percy. But this doesn't establish anything." Jason surprisingly was the calmest, now that the fact hit him hard. He knew that there was one sore subject that Nico didn't like to talk about: Percy.

Chiron cleared his throat. "Percy and Jason, can you Iris message Reyna? Ask for her permission to take Hazel on a little quest to the underworld, but don't tell Reyna anything about Nico and the River Lethe. Hazel, however, has the right to know. Leo, go and find Calypso and ask her on how to retrieve lost memories. You three can tell Calypso and Hazel, but nobody else. We don't need more people and extra rumors going on. Now, I have to tell the girls."

The three teens saw Chiron's figure go and trot in the vague direction of the infirmary. "Well, then, I'll go to Calypso now. Inform Valdez when more news on Nico comes up. See you." Leo ran and nearly flew to his bunk from the Big House, where his girlfriend was. Not long after, he was talking a mile per minute with flames flickering around his waving hands. That happened a lot when he got super antsy, anxious, or worried; in this case, it was all three.

On the other hand, Percy and Jason had an outward calm, but for different reasons. Percy felt numb, like he couldn't feel anything but hear the news that hit him hard over and over again in his head much like a broken recorder, while Jason felt like it was his responsibility to get Nico's memories back, and that panicking wasn't going to help with anything. They were on the way the to Poseidon cabin which had a fountain with an automatic rainbow always forming. Jason didn't feel neither safe nor happy about entering the green-eyed teen's cabin but then again, he would do almost anything to retrieve Nico's lost memories.

Throwing a drachma inside the rainbow, Percy monotonously said, "Reyna, Camp Jupiter". The praetor had been reading a fairly thick novel but as soon as Jason spoke out, she prepared herself for battle, grabbing the nearest weapon possible- a broom. When she spotted the Iris message, her cheeks flushed and she immediately dropped the cleaning tool.

"Hello, Jason, Percy. How nice of you to Iris message me, but I suppose at this rushed time, this isn't just a 'I-missed-you' message, is it?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Listen bab- Reyna. We need to borrow Hazel for a little trip. Can she go?" A look of surprise spread within her features.

"I suppose why not? But what is this 'little trip'?"

"Uh..." Just at this time, Percy took over.

"My dog ran away to the underworld, and we think that Hazel would be resourceful in the hunt." He tried a stupid grin but the praetor wasn't fooled that easily.

"Percy, you seem... remote, distant. There's something more, isn't there?" Jason shook his head, barely noticeable, in reply to the question.

"I'll fill you up later. Can she come tomorrow morning? It's kinda urgent." Percy wanted Nico to remember the past badly, but then a sliver of doubt filled his heart. What if he didn't want to remember? What if Nico hated Percy after getting his memories back? What if Nico still hates Percy without his memories? What if Nico dies in the infirmary?

'Screw the what if's.' Percy finally concluded.

"Yes, she can. Good luck on finding your dog Percy. Jason, don't be too much trouble for him."

"What're you going to do about it?"

"No kissing for a month." Jason groaned.

"That's too cruel. You're too cruel." Percy cracked a small smile.

"_Ahem,_" Percy got the attention of the two 'flirting' demigods. "Don't worry Reyna, he won't be. See you later," and cut the connection. "She's not serious, right?"

"Truthfully," Jason replied honestly, "I don't know. I hope she isn't."

"Aw. 'Cause if it was, I would have the pleasure of hearing you grumble about blue balls for the next month. Dang it." Jason chuckled darkly at Percy's statement.

"You better watch it, Jackson. I'll make sure that you take a good, long plane ride. Just no plane."

"Okay, okay. No need bringing your daddy into this." Because the two sons of the Big Three were talking, they didn't notice the silent figure open and close the door, walking in.


	4. Ask

A/N: Gomensai! This is a very bad chapter. I was writing it with my brother yelling into my ear in the car... Anyways, enjoy! ^u^

"Okay, okay, No need bringing your daddy into this."

"Who're you talking about?" a voice behind the two asked. Jason and Percy slowly turned around, to come face to face to the smaller demigod.

"What're you doing here?" Jason asked back softly.

"You don't want me here?" Nico asked cautiously.

"Aren't you suppose to be in the infirmary?"

"Do you not want me here?" Nico asked again, a little less careful this time.

"Aren't you tired? Does it hurt anywhere?" Percy cut in their conversation, running his eyes over the half-Italian's body for any injuries (and maybe some other causes).

"Why're you answering all my questions with questions?"

"I don't know." Jason answered back with a shrug.

"So, who were you talking about?"

"Oh, um," Jason hesitated for a bit. "My dad."

"Do you do that often?" Innocent brown eyes met knowing sky-blue ones.

"I... Guess? I mean, I don't meet him often, and him being the god of the skies and the Olympians, I don't really think of him as a... Dad."

"God of the skies and... Oh, oh, you mean Zeus?"

"Uh, yea. Zeus. Jupiter."

"So, Nico, what are you doing here?"Percy interjected.

The fifteen-year-old hesitated visibly, something that the old Nico wouldn't do. Percy mentally smacked himself at the thought. This is Nico. Just... Not here. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you."

"Really?"

"I guess this is my cue to leave. See you guys tomorrow morning."

The blonde waved over his shoulder as he quickly left the Poseidon cabin.

"So," (much akwardness on Percy's part) "what do you need to tell me?"

"You're Perseus-"

"Percy."

"Jackson, right?" he continued with a nod. "I... Actually, I remembered more than just Camp Half-Blood."

"You lied to Chiron and the rest?" The son of Poseidon raised an eyebrow, earning a blush from the younger demigod. All Percy could think was, 'Wow. He looks cu- different. He should do that more often.'

"I didn't lie. You just implied it."

"Yea?"

"Yes. Now, I remembered two things after finding myself on the banks of the river. Camp Half-Blood and Bianca." Nico told Percy, matter-of-factly. It took a few minutes to sink in; when it finally did, the latter froze.

"B-bianca, huh?"

"Yea, and I felt that you were the one to know." Nico looked up the six inches that he was missing, meeting Percy's eyes. He was confused by the saddened and nostalgic look in the sea-green eyes.

Percy ruffled ebony-black hair.

"You're a good kid, Nico." The younger demigod was once again confused by the gesture.

"What do you me-" Percy cut him off in a body-crushing hug.

"Don't change. Please. For me." Nico blinked. Change? Change into what? A monster? For him? Why? A million-plus questions ran through his head, but he asked one that he really wanted, no needed, to know.

"Can you tell me more about myself?"

"Huh?"

"I mean," Nico scratched his head nervously. "I don't know much about myself, so can you like, tell me? I don't remember anything. I didn't even know my real name down at the river." Percy noticed that the young teen remembered Bianca, but not his own name. A fresh, new tide of guilt washed over his heart (no pun intended). How much place did his past sister have in his heart? So that he would remember her rather than himself?

"Let's see. Your name is Nico di Angelo. You usually wear black. You're 5'6. You're kinda antisocial, you ha-"

"Other than that. Like my personality. I don't know who I am. It sounds kinda weird, but I want an identity. Someone that I can be." Nico looked up from his shoes. "And doesn't di Angelo mean the angel? In... Italian? How'd I know that?"

"Well, it's your name, and you're Italian, half-Italian, so I mean... I guess you would know since you know the language."

"Huh. Then what's the other half?"

"Excuse me? What other half?"

"You said that I was half-Italian. What's my other half?"

"God." Percy didn't hesitate to say it. Nico deserved to know who he actually was, and this feeling came from experience. "Half Olympian god. Your father is Hades."

"God of... The underworld, right?" The brunette nodded. "Then who's your father?"

"Poseidon, god of the sea."

"Cool, then can you surf really well?" A rush of dejavu hit Percy.

"I guess. I can bodyboard?"

"Didn't Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades fight a lot? Did Jason, you and me get into big fights?"

"Not really... I mean, we fought once, Jason and I fought once. I'm not sure about you and Jason, though."

There was a moment of silence between them, everything but the rush of water from the cabin fountain in the Poseidon cabin.

"There's something about Jason. He knows something. That I know. A secret, with a god of love?"

"Aphrodite?"

"No, but," he hesitated, something that he did a lot since 'the river incident'. "he knows something."

"Do you want me to get him?"

"N-no, it's fine. I got it!" Percy nearly jumped three feet at that.

"Got what?"

"Cupid!"

"Got Cupid? Cupid, the god of l- oh."

"Leo? The Latino elf?"

"Huh? Latino elf?"

"Yea, and he's got ears like that. I mean, he's the shortest out of you guys."

"Actually, that would be you, since you are also part of our group."Nico frowned. "Something wrong?"

"What is our group?"

"Um, the ones at Camp Half-Blood are you, me, Jason, elf, Piper, Annab- what?" The son of Hades burst out laughing.

"You called him the elf!"

"Oh yea. I did." Percy displayed mock horror on his face. "You made me."

"It's not my fault you're so gullible. Is that a word?"Nico pronounced the questioned word gill-ee-ble. 'Wow, that's cute. He's cute. Wait, what?' Percy ignored his thumping heart as he avoided the question.

"I'm dyslexic and ADHD. Don't ask me." A knock interrupted them.

"There's sword practice right now," Jason's voice called through the door, "you're gonna miss it. Oh, and Percy? Almost the whole camp bet on us?"

Percy opened the door.

"For what?"

"On who's gonna win. You or me."

"What are the odds?"

" 'Bout half-half, but I've got the Ares cabin on my side and the Athena side."

"Man, that's not fair. You got both war cabins. I'm so much of a better swordsman."

"Egotistic, much? So who're you voting for, Nico?"

"Ummm, I'm choosing... Percy?"He looked more confused that Jason, who had complete understanding on his face, like he predicted that was going to happen.

"Then let's go."


	5. Spar

The sound of swords clashing and cheers drove the two sons of the Big Three into harder and stronger clashes of their swords.

"You're going down, Superman," Percy panted as he dodged a blow narrowly, then diving into offense.

"Not if I bring you down first," was the heated reply. Around the two battling demigods was a huge crowd, of everyone that was currently at camp. Different shouts were called out such as 'Get him, Percy!' or 'You can do it, Jason! Where's that son of Jupiter power!' and even a 'Beat that sissy!' (but nobody knew who the sissy was). Nico glanced nervously around him, knowing that he would probably know the strangers surrounding the arena. He should, but he didn't. It was like he lost his grip on something, and that something was his memories.

Unknown to Nico's inner battle, the crowd cheered and yelled louder for the close-ending sparring match. Soon the son of Poseidon and the son of Jupiter were close range within each other, swords literally making sparks fly from the pressure. As it looked like, it was a match of pure strength and it was pretty even.

"Why don't you back down? No use in losing a lost battle," Jason almost growled at his adversary.

"Well, a lost battle for you." Percy shot back, sweat trailing down his face.

"C'mon. I've got both war cabins on my side. And you know that the Athena cabin is never wrong."

"Well," Percy grinned, "I've got Nico on my side. And he could see the outcome of every battle. You know from the war."

"Hmm. Are you sure that it isn't just some.. Feelings?" Percy grew red and Jason laughed. Suddenly one of the two ducked out of their current position and rolled to the side, swinging his left leg to hook the surprised demigod's ankles, making him lose balance. Before the fallen could react, he felt something pointy against his chest. Then, the spar was over. The demigod with the upper hand removed his weapon and helped the other one up. The two teens patted each other on the back like 'real men'.

"Looks like I win then," Percy said. A cheer erupted throughout the crowd, and many people were sticking their hands deep into their pockets for lost bet money. Both demigod's walked into the crowd, laughing and talking animatedly. The son of Poseidon found Nico talking with Annabeth. She had a nostalgic look on her face, or a surprised one if you look at it in another light.

Percy and Jason met with the rest of their friends, who were congratulating the two on the 'awesome battle then left girls swarming around them' quoted by Leo. Jason turned to Nico.

"Looks like you bet on the right person."

"Yea, I guess I did."

"Yea man, "Percy joined in on their conversation, "I really don't think I wouldn't have won without your support."

Then Nico did something that surprised everyone. He reached up on his tiptoes... and kissed Percy.

/

Sorry for the late update. I'll try to


	6. Lost

Then Nico did something that surprised everyone, including himself. He reached up on his tiptoes... and kissed Percy. It wasn't a full-blown kiss; just one on the cheek. Nevertheless, Percy's cheerful laughter suddenly stopped and gave way to scarlet cheeks upon feeling the son of Hades's soft lips. The doer himself seemed shocked, and instantly reeled back, stuttering with a bright pink face, which the green-eyed teen thought suited him just fine (no perverted thoughts... Probably).

"Uhh, s-sorry, I didn't mean t-to, I-I mean it's j-just like a-a... M-my body moved on it's o-own?" Jason was the first one to recover, knowing that it was something both wanted, and possibly, needed.

"Hey, it might be something called muscle memory. You know, since you don't remember anything, it could be that your body wanted to or something... You know, Percy?" The son of Poseidon glared at the grinning blonde, testing how far he would push the limits while his crush put on a thoughtful face.

"Really? That's interesting. Then why would I've wanted to do it? When I actually had my memories?"

Jason's complexion paled and his grin dropped, turning into a grim line. He was the only one alive (and maybe dead) who knew of his biggest fear/secret. After the meeting with Cupid and seeing the fragile state of the son of Hades, the blonde swore to himself that he would never tell anybody else the secret unless he got Nico's permission.

"I wonder why..." Jason muttered quietly, if not, sadly.

"Hey, Jason. Does it have anything to do with Cu-" suddenly, the son of Hades jolted and fell to the floor in an almost-seizure.

"Shoot. It's another memory lapse..." Jason muttered while knelling down next to the son of Hades and scooped him up, talking to one of the Apollo kids, telling him to take the unconscious demigod to the infirmary. When the kid looked a bit hesitant, Jason rolled his eyes and asked if he thought a demigod who had just fainted from having a seizure would harm him in his sleep.

After that problem was solved and Jason knew that Nico would be safely kept in the infirmary, he walked back to the rest of the group.

"Hey, anybody else starving? Just looking at you two made me hungry," Piper joked, rubbing her stomach, trying to lighten the suddenly dark mood. She then pulled Jason, the closest one to her out of their little 'group' and dragged him to the mess hall. Every else then started to follow, the crowd clearing out of the arena. Percy found himself somewhere near the back, in step with a certain daughter of Athena.

"You know," Annabeth said, "I never thought Nico could've ever been like that. It's like he's a different person."

"Yea. But you should've seen him when we first met him right after you, you know, fell off the cliff."

"How was he like?"

"Happy. Cheery. Geeky. C- Different from now." Percy turned his head to the side to hide his slight blush from Annabeth. She didn't seem to notice.

"It happened when Bianca died, right?"

"Yea."

A moment of silence followed.

"It actually might be better if he doesn't regain his memories." Percy's head whipped aroudn to face the blonde.

"What makes you say that?"

"Don't freak out, Percy. It's just that... He seems so burden-free. Like there was nothing on this earth that could ever bother him. Nico before, all he held was resentment and bitterness and anger. Now he could let it all go."

"But I don't think he wants it this way."

"How do you- oh." Percy gave her a wary smile. "Memory loss. I've got an expert next to me."

Another silence followed.

"How did you feel when you lost your memories?" Annabeth inquired.

"I felt like I lost my grip on something. Something important. And it was frustrating. There was this one time where I punched a book shelf because I couldn't remember anything." Percy snorted. He sighed. "Gods, I'm tired."

"Then why don't you go rest in your cabin? A surprising as it may seem, you don't look very hungry to me." Annabeth lightly punched him in the arm. "I'll tell the others you were tired, and went to crash." He gave her a grateful smile.

"Thanks wise girl. I know I can count on you," and he left for the Poseidon cabin. The said demigod smiled up and faced the darkening sky with its newly-showing stars.

"Anytime seaweed brain, anytime."


	7. Prophesize

Percy shivered. Even though he was tired from the exercises that he performed throughout the day and his body yawned, his mind couldn't stop reeling. After half an hour of tossing and turning, the green-eyed demigod threw the blankets aside and put on a sweatshirt, his worry getting the better of him. He was walking towards the infirmary when he met a certain fiery red-head.

"Woah, who ar- Percy? What are you doing here?" Rachel cocked her head to the side, voicing her confusion as of why the young hero is roaming around the camp at midnight.

"W-well, what about you?"

"I'm going to prank the Stoll for what they did earlier today right after lunch," and before the son of Poseidon could say anything, she sighed and put her hands on her hip. "You know, you really are stupid. Going to the infirmary just because you're worried about him doesn't mean you can roam around camp. But don't worry, there's no watch over the infirmary today." This time, it was Percy's time to be confused.

"Why not? What if something happens?"

She sighed again.

"You idiot. I'm watch today. I'll let you by like a good friend, but next time, help me prank the Stolls. By-"Suddenly, there was a green glow around the Oracle as smoke seemed to come out of her open mouth. "Listen carefully son of Poseidon..." At this, Percy brought out Riptide, and tried writing on his arm- it worked.

"_The daughter of love shall be captured and sealed_

_ Until the owl comes to repeal_

_ The sea and death will clash against_

_ Until the sealing of vows have commenced_

_ The hidden angel shall never resurface_

_ Until the son of Poseidon retrieves the mace_

_ Despair shall reign as the loner_

_ Until Elpis once again takes over _

_ Soon will be nothing more than a memory_

_ Until the turn of the century_."

After the oracle-outburst, Percy caught the falling red-headed girl. Without thinking, he lifted her bridal-style and ran to the Big House, where Chiron must've been.

Not being able to knock, he shouted the centaur's name as loudly as he could until the door hastily opened.

"Percy? What are you doing here?" 'What is it with repeated sequences today?' he thought sourly.

"I, uh, met Rachel and she fainted after the Oracle spoke a prophesy. I should've brought her to the infirmary, but the prophesy... So I ran here." Understanding, Chiron brought the (awake) demigod into the Big House.

"So do you remember the prophesy?" He squinted at the unconscious teen on the couch and squinted at his arm. He, surprisingly, caught all of it although there were certain spelling mistakes.

"Daughter of love, a daughter of Aphrodite or Cupid/Eros... Who is somehow related to the owl, a sign of Athena, repeals, but repeal what? And the sea and death shall clash against, titans? No, I'm assuming that they're Poseidon and Hades, although... Vows? Promises? Swearing on the River Styx? Maybe.." Percy squirmed slightly in his seat and waited for Chiron's muttering to die down.

"Maybe '_the owl captures and seals the daughter of love_'? Athena? And if the sea and death stands for my dad, well, Poseidon and Hades, then maybe the Olympians fight against each other? Wait, wouldn't there be WWIII then?"

"That would be very unsettling and the world would be filled with chaos if the twelve Olympians did fight. Well, Percy, you can go to your cabin now. I'll take Rachel to the i-"

"Actually, I can go Chiron. You look, uh, tired..."

After stifling a yawn, Chiron agreed. He didn't seem to catch the actual reason for Percy's visit to the infirmary.

When he got there, he gently put down the red-headed oracle on the nearest spare bed and hurriedly looked for a small, dark figure under covers. His worry increased dramatically as each empty bed passed by, and heonly had one question when he reached the other side of the room.

_ Where is he?_


	8. Cross

"Where is he?" Percy mentally asked himself. Suddenly, something touched Percy's shoulder, and before his mind caught up, the son of Poseidon grabbed the wrist (?) and pushed the small body (?) against the wall.

"S-sorry, I d-d-didn't k-know you didn't li-ike b-being touched... I-I'm s-sorry..." A small, squeaky voice came out. The son of Poseidon immediately let go.

"Nico? What are you- nevermind. No, it's fine. I'm just paranoid. I was looking for you and I couldn't find you, so I got worr-" Percy shut his mouth, then opened it again, gaping a bit and resembling a fish. "Forget the last part."

"You were worried about me?" The smaller demigod looked up and the moonlight made his skin look like it was glowing, something that Percy had never noticed before. "Why?"

"Why wouldn't I be? You're like the little brother that I never had," ruffling his hair, Percy mentally snorted. 'Little brother my ass,' he thought, almost scornfully.

"Oh." If Percy caught Nico's slight disappointment, he didn't let it show on his face. " 'Cause the way people look at me here doesn't make me feel welcome. But Annabeth keeps looking at me like I'm some kicked puppy. I swear I'm not!"

"She didn't mean to," Percy sighed softly and knew that the younger demigod knew that something was up, but didn't treat on the subject. Instead he gently touched the green-eyed demigod's arm, not really knowing what to feel.

"So, I heard from Jason that you two're going somewhere tomorrow... Or today. It's past midnight." They both stared at the ticking clock on the wall of the infirmary.

"Something like that... Wait, aren't you going with us?"

"I am?"

"Y-yea, to try and get, you know, your memories back..." He hesitated. Percy didn't know how to talk about Nico's memories like they weren't there, like he wasn't there at all.

"Cool. Where are we going?"

"To the Underworld, to see your father."

"Ha... Hades? The guy that was with me at the river?"

"I guess... What happened there? I don't mean to make you feel pressured, but... We're all trying to figure out what happened to you."

"I remember a gray river, and a tall, pale man standing next to me.. And there was a woman, an old hag," Nico furrowed his eyebrows, as if looking for something in front of him.

"_Who_?"

"I don't know, that's the thing."

"Well," Percy decided to drop the matter, "we should be getting some rest. We're heading out first thing tomorrow with Hazel."

"?"

"You'll see. But if she hugs you, don't freak out or push her away."

"Okay...?"

Silence.

"Can I ask you a question Percy?" The stated demigod nodded. "Did you not like the kiss from before?"

"H-huh? W-what? This kiss? Um... I-I don't know what to say, Nico, i-it was like umm..." Percy crossed his fingers and hoped for the best. "Cool." 'Nice move, Jackson.'

"So you, like, didn't hate it?"

"N-not at all," he spotted a faint red hue to the half-Italian's cheeks.

"So, uh, see you tomorrow?"

"Yea. That would be nice." And they headed off towards their own chambers, hearts racing, for the day that was to come.

"Nico!" An African-American girl who appeared to be younger than Nico jumped off of a copper-tan horse and hugged him. With a warning look from Percy, Nico awkwardly embraced the golden-eyed demigod and tried to respond correctly.

"Err, hi? Hazel? Nice to see you too?"

"Nico? Don't you... Recognize me?"Percy mentally cussed to himself. Hazel was a sharp one, that was for sure.

"Of... Course?"

"Why are you saying that like it's a question?"

"Because he's suppose to but can't," Jason replied bluntly. With permission from Chiron, he told the daughter of Pluto about Nico's mysterious appearance drenched in water and his memory loss.

"Sorry." Nico cast his eyes down and shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"It's not your fault. Well, I better introduce myself. Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, belonging to Fifth Cohort, girlfriend of Frank Zhang, and your half-sister."

"I would introduce myself but... Is it just me or is that horse eating gold?"

"You four should better get going," Chiron interjected, "It's half past seven." Saying their farewells, they left the camp (Arion bolting somewhere by himself to find some more food.)

"So where are we going?"Jason asked Hazel once they were in a mortal taxi and speeding to a nearby crosscountry-bus stop.

"We need to get to Los Angeles. At the base of a mountain is an opening to the Underworld. With luck, we'll only need a couple hours to arrive at the palace."

"And if we're not lucky?" Percy inquired, munching on a snack bar.

"A few days at most," Hazel said reassuring. Nevertheless, it bothered the sons of the other two Big Three.

"Three days underground, no sky..." Jason muttered, looking out the window of the taxi. An hour later, they were waiting at the bus stop, practically in the middle of nowhere, the single path boarded by forests on both sides. Hazel was telling Jason about the renovation and improvements of New Rome while Percy was dozing off against the bus stop pole. Nico didn't know what to do, and with the lack of thoughts in his head, he stared dumbly at the other side of the road.

Questions ran through his head. What am I doing here? Why did I lost my memories? Why don't I remember anything? What happened? Why do I black out a lot? Why did I.. kiss Percy? He kept running the same questions over his head- until a person appeared on the other side of the road. Not the normal hitchhiker either. Just not there- blink- and then there. What the...?

Nico noticed that different faces seemed to appear, all in agony or wearing an expression of horror, but when he concentrated harder, he could see a hunched over lady. She smiled with missing teeth and waved her hand, motioning for Nico to cross the street. A voice rang in his head.

_"Come now, child. I know you want to. It's easy. Come child, come_." As if his body started to move on his own, the son of Hades slowly took a tentative step towards the street, and then another, and another. Soon, he was on the street, and could faintly hear screams of his name. It was behind him, all behind him. Nothing was bothering him. It was like he was floating. A narrow tunnel seemed to appear and all he could focus on was getting to the other side of the street. The lady. The tunnel. A flash of light. "Nico!" A girl's shrill scream over the roar of a loud, long honk. More shouts, but this time, masculine. The lady. Still beckoning with her hand, but her grin wider than ever. Light blinding his view.

He snapped out of it.

Blinking again, the lady seemed to disappear, but hearing his name called, he turned his head to the right. The light seemed to be getting nearer and nearer. It was.

A truck was heading towards him and Nico was transfixed, pupils dilated.

Percy yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Nico!"

Nico closed his eyes.


	9. Hitchhike

"Nico!" With a yell, Percy burst across the street and then pulled the smaller demigod towards him, so he fell on him. The passing-by truck swerved and hit a tree, and driver coming out with concern on his face.

"Kid! You okay?"

"H-huh? Y-yea..." The son of Jupiter helped them and Hazel hugged Nico close, close to tears. "I'm fine..."

"Sorry, son. Car went out of control and the brake didn't work. Don't know what happened there. Like the devil itself went berserk and took my truck." Three demigods exchanged looks. If not a monster or god, then what?

"Did it just turn all of a sudden, or...?" Jason asked, curious and cautious.

"I couldn't see the kid 'til he was about five feet away from me, and it was like he popped up out of nowhere. He's not there, I blink, and he's there! Son, what were you doing out there?"

"I, uh, tripped over a rock. I probably g-got up... Sorry."

"No, not your fault. But you four kids waiting for someone? Goin' on a trip?"

"Sort of like that," Percy quickly said. "By the way, I'm Percy. That's Jason, Hazel, and Nico.

"Nice to meet you four. The name's Marc." The two groups briskly shook hands with each other.

"Do you know when the next bus is coming?" Jason inquired.

"Son, this bus route's been closed for over a decade."

"Oops," Hazel quietly said, suddenly finding her shoes much more interesting than anything else at the moment.

"Do you know another bus stop?"

"Where you kids need to go?"

"Los Angeles," all four piped up at the same time.

"Long trip. I can take you guys for a bit if you want,"

"Really?" Hazel looked up.

"Sure. Delivery stop. I'm going to Chicago. I know a route that goes to California. You guys can hitchhike in the back." His blue eyes twinkled. "Unless of course, you can cope with Ol' Tommy."

"Who?" Percy accidentally blurted out.

The man whisted. "Here, Ol' Tommy!" Suddenly, a blur of brown and white attacked the nearest person- who happened to be Nico.

"Woah!" The huge Saint Bernard almost toppled the brunette down.

"Oh, he's such a cutie." Hazel had a dreamy look on her face, while Jason and Percy just shrugged.

Climbing into the back with "Ol' Tommy", they made themselves snug and waited for the blue-eyed man to check out the truck. It turned out to be perfectly fine. After a rumble, the car started to move and the Saint Bernard made comfortable in Nico's lap, practically burying him in masses of fur.

After about ten minutes of silence and whatnot, the four demigods (after making sure that Marc didn't accidentally overhear) looked at each other. Nico noticed that they haven't pulled out of the forest yet, but the trees were clearing, probably for the freeway.

"So," Jason pulled out a map from his backpack. "Where exactly is this opening?"

"There are actually two," Hazel explained. "One's in Central Park, but-"

"Then why aren't we going there?"Jason exclaimed, making Ol' Tommy lift his head in a drowsy fashion.

"That's what I'm getting at. You need music to make the opening actually op-"

"Can't one of you sing?"Percy asked, looking a shade of innocent. The daughter of Death seemed extremely annoyed by the fact that the two older demigods continuously interrupted her but kept her patience in check.

"Even if we do open it, it's far more dangerous than the one in Los Angeles. And since there wasn't anyone who-"

"Nico and I have," Percy interjected once again. Nico gave him a puzzling look.

"But do you know where to go?"Nico asked, stroking the asleep dog.

Percy looked hesitant.

"No, but you did."

"That's why it's more dangerous. We could get lost on the way and not surface for the longest of times." Two sons of the big three shuddered at thought, like that morning.

"So longer than three days?" Jason ignored the 'I-told-you-so' look that he received from Hazel.

"So, when do we get th-" A blast into the side of the car abruptly stopped all conversation. The four demigods braced themselves and shielded their faces when the car went flying into a pine tree, this time making a mark. Marc stormed out of the pick-up truck, squinting at the sky.

"What in blazers' name?!"

/

Gods, studying for the SATs are such a drab =.=... Sorry for the late update! =.=


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